Speaking during a plenary session of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Barroso said he would like to involve regions and municipalities more closely in measures relating to migration policy, as requested by a CoR opinion on a common immigration policy drafted by Werner Jostmeier (EPP/DE), chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalian Landtag's executive committee.
"An effective EU migration policy will only be possible if local and regional authorities are more closely involved. Unless we give local and regional stakeholders the resources they need, European migration policy will remain a dead letter," said Jostmeier.
Providing education, boosting proficiency in the language of host countries and ensuring migrant access to social security systems places a particular burden on regional and local authorities, underlined Herwig van Staa, president of the Austrian region of Tyrol.
German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble reassured regions and municipalities that their recommendation be given proper consideration.
"We need regions and cities as partners in EU immigration policy if we are to achieve tangible results. Dialogue with the Committee of the Regions is therefore important to us. We will take its recommendations into consideration in our debates in the Council," said Schäuble.
The EU fund for integration of migrants is part of a more general programme, 'Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows', and makes available €825 million for the period 2007-2013. €768 million is to be distributed among member states in proportion to their respective numbers of legal resident immigrants. €57 million will be invested in cross-border Community action.
Speaking to journalists, Jostmeier noted that the fund would need to be upgraded in the future, but declined to give further details of the exact amount and procedure for this. "It would be a mistake at this point to draw a list of detailed criteria. But I just hope the EU will not come up with unworkable measures," he concluded.
